Free Playing the Game (The Renegades) (Volume 3) by Melody Heck Gatto Page A

way
I am, I think.”
    “ I’m sorry, I don’t
follow?”
    “ I’m compassionate towards people’s
issues. People’s problems don’t define them, well, most of the
time. Sometimes I guess I care too much.”
    “ Can I ask who caused you to think
that way?” He was treading water here and didn’t want to blow this
opportunity.
    “ I think you just did.” Putting
down her fork, she wiped her mouth and took a long drink of pop. “I
don’t know why I’m telling you any of this, but here goes. I had a
brother, Scott. He was awesome, two years older than me and I
looked up to him. He was good looking and very smart. My best
friend Rylee fell for him and they dated. They planned to get
married, and everything was perfect, except it wasn’t.”
    Tyler watched her intensely, still not moving, hoping
she would continue.
    “ Scott was sick. Rylee and I were
closest to him, so we saw both sides. My parents saw everything
through rose-colored glasses, and their perfect son couldn’t be a
drug addict. But he was. Long story short, he OD’d on heroin. I
found him.” She sighed hard, blinked and he could only assume she
was holding back tears. “And that is why I am the way I am. I care
too much because outside of my family, no one saw the good kid that
he was, the smart honor student who could go to any college he
wanted. No one saw the polite young man he was turning into, or the
wonderful big brother that he was. Everyone we knew and everyone
who didn’t know us only saw him as a strung-out junkie. They don’t
think you hear them, but you do, the awful comments. Low-life
druggie. Loser. Druggies deserve to die … Yeah, someone actually
said that. No one knew him; they only saw his problem, and he was
so much more than that.”
    Paige took another long drink of pop and he was
afraid he had asked too much from her.
    “ I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset
you.”
    A small smile pulled at the side of her mouth. “You
didn’t. I like thinking about him, he was the best big brother, and
I miss him dearly. But he’ll always be in my heart.”
    Something shifted inside his chest. “You’re a good
sister.”
    Sniffling a bit, she picked at some lettuce with her
fork. “Yeah. Rylee lost him too, but we helped each other heal. In
every way that matters she is my sister. Gram and Pap helped us
stay on the right path, even when it wasn’t so easy, but we made it
together. Now Pap is gone and we girls are there for Gram.”
    Wow, that was a lot more than he expected. “So you
still live with Rylee?”
    She nodded. “And Gram. I help take care of her. I
mean, she takes care of herself just fine, but she’s getting older,
and we like doing things for her after all the years she spent
taking care of us.”
    This girl… He couldn’t find the words to describe
her. He must’ve been staring at her too intently, because her
cheeks reddened.
    She blinked and touched her cheek. “What?”
    “ Nothing, just admiring your eyes,
that’s all.” To avoid any further questioning he shoved about half
of his sandwich into his mouth.
    “ Geez, ever hear of taking a bite?
You don’t have to eat the whole thing in one mouthful.” She
grimaced, but her eyes were bright so he wasn’t worried.
    He wanted to laugh, and maybe smile, but he literally
had too much in his mouth to do either. He really did over-do it. Idiot.
    When he finally swallowed all his food, he decided to
keep pushing. She interested him and he needed to know more. “Since
you’re letting me be curious, I’m going to test my luck. Do you
have a boyfriend?”
    “ Ha! When would I have the
time?”
    “ So there’s no one special in your
life?” He was laying it on thick and he hoped she caught his bit of
humor.
    “ No. There hasn’t been anyone in a
long time, and I don’t think there’s ever been anyone special.” As
soon as the words left her mouth, she looked like she wished she
could take them back and she stuffed some remaining lettuce into
her